Vestibule oar



' 3 Sheets-Sheet 2. F. FOX. VESTIBULE GAR.

(No Model.)

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F. A. Fox. VESTIBULE GAR;

No. 550,408. I Patented N'ov. 26, 1895.

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ANDREW EGNNMM. PHOTO-LITHQWASN'NGTDN. 9.0.

NITED STAT S PATENT OFFICE.

FRANK A. FOX, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR, BY DIRECT AND MESNEASSIGNMENTS, TO ANNIE A. ROBERTS, OF SAME PLACE.

VESTIBULE-CAR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 550,408, dated November26, 1895.

Application filed October 15, 1894. Serial No. 525,890. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANK A. FOX, a citizen of the United States,residing at New York, in the county of New York and State of New York,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Vestibule-Oars andI do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exactdescription of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in theart IO to which it appertains to make and use the same. This inventionrelates to railway-cars, but more particularly to cars having avestibule to form a covered passage between two ad- I 5 jacent cars whenthe same are coupled together. Heretofore in the construction of cars ofthis character it has been proposed to provide either separate orcontinuous frameplates or arch plates connected to the hood,

which are supported at the upper and lower portions thereof by springs,which tend to force the said plates outwardly, thereby causing theplates to serve as bufiers and to take considerable of the shock as thecars are coupled together, and depends simply upon the projecting forceof the springs employed to accomplish this result and to keep the platesin frictional contact. The springs are I necessarily limited in powerand unequal in 0 application, resulting in undue straining of the platesor of allowing the cars to sepa rate at their tops to permit foreignmatter to enter the passage-way, which is very objectionable, or not tohold thecarswith suffi- 3 5 cient rigidity as to prevent endwisemovement of the cars, all of which tend to unnecessarily' wear or strainsome of the parts. Where the plates or frames are supported at theirtops by spring-controlled connections 40 located in the upper portion ofthe vestibule, there is a further objection on account of the strainwhich has to be taken at this point.

It has also been proposed to connect the lower ends of the frame-platesto and let the 5 same be controlled by the movement of the draw-bar ofthe coupler; but this has some of the objectionable features to whichreference has just been made.

The primary object of my invention is to overcome these objectionablefeatures by providing means, whereby the frame-plates may plates andhood attached thereto.

be advanced forward or moved backward to vary at will the frictionalcontact between the said plates and to prevent the plates from takingany unnecessary shock as the cars are coupled together; to provide meanswhereby the frames may be placed and retained in proper alignment withrespect to each other, so that the strains may be properly distributedthroughout the several parts, and to provide means by which a rigid butyielding connection may be formed between the adjacent cars, so as tomake the train continuous by preventing as much as possible the endwisemovement of the cars.

Another object is to provide buffing-blocks at the lower portion of theframes to properly align the same should there be any uneven surfacebefore the plates are brought in rigid contact with each other, and toprovide anti- 7o frictional rollers at the upper portion of the platesto allow for the heeling of the cars as the train passes around curves.

A further object is to provide simple, effective, and durable mechanismfor accomplishing the above results.

With these and other objects in view the invention consists in theconstruction and combination of the several parts, as will behereinafter more fully defined, and then more particularly pointed outin the claims at the end of the description.

Reference being'had to the-accompanying drawings, forming a part of thisspecification, Figure 1 is a perspective view of the body portion of avestibule-car with the frame- Fig. 2 is side elevation of portions ofthe abutting sections of two cars in position to be coupled together.Fig. 3 is a sectional plan View on the line 111 III of Fig. 2,illustrating the cars coupled together and the mechanism for advancingthe frame-plates. Fig. 4 is a sectional plan view similar to Fig. 3,with the exception that the vestibule-flooring is removed to illustratein elevation the mechanism for moving the plates, the latter being shownin rigid frictional contact. Fig. 5 is a fragmentary side elevation ofthe lower portion of the plates and hood in the position shown in Fig. 3before the same are brought together. Fig. 6 is a view similar to Fig.5, with the plates in rigid contact. Fig. 7 is a fragmentary sectionalview of the upper portion of the plates, illustrating the means employedfor permitting the cars to heel, the separation of the plates being eX-aggerated to more clearly represent the function of the antifrictionalrollers. Fig. 8 isan enlarged front elevation of the frame-plate, andFig. 9 is a vertical sectional View on the line IX IX of Fig. 8.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, A may designate a car ofsuitable construction, having preferablyavestibule of any preferred orwell-known form. To the forward portion of the car is secured a suitablecollapsible hood B, which forms an arch or passage in front of thevestibule and has a frame plate 0 secured thereto, the upper portion ofsaid frame-plate being held in place by the hood, while the lowerportion is supported by an outwardly-extendin g threshold-plate c,secured thereto or formed i11- tegrally therewith. This threshold platerests upon a plate or series of short plates 0, arranged in a recess inthe bu'ifenbeam or car sill D, and forms a support for said frame-platein such manner as to preferably throw the upper portion slightlyforward, so that the top will always tend to remain closed when the carsare coupled. The frame-plate or other movable body is provided with alug or projection 0 having a rounded outer or 1 hearing or block 6thelatter having a straight,

rear edge e and being secured to the sills 6 6 extending rearwardly fromsaid beam,

The reduced portion 6 of the rod E passes through and is slidinglyarranged in a hollow sleeve G, provided with an exterior threadedsurface, and has a suitable bearing g, which is secured to ablock g,arranged between the an, arranged in suitable bearings and carrysills ee, as best shown in Figs. 4 and 9.

pending from the bearing 9 is a spline or:

feather 9 which engages a keyway g in the sleeve G and prevents rotationof the same, but causes the sleeve to advance or recede as theinternally-threaded bevel-gear H, arranged on said sleeve, is rotated inone direction or another, as will presentlyappear. To the portion (2 ofthe rod is pivotally secured by the pintlei an equalizing or aligningbar I,

against which abut one end of the main spiral spring J and the-auxiliaryspring J, both sur rounding the portion 6 of the rod Eandhaving theirother ends abutting against the face of the sliding sleeve G. Theauxiliary spring tends to resist any slight shocks and to. asslst themain spring in resisting the separation of the frame-plates when twocars are coupled together.

The equalizing or aligning bar I has the outwardly-extending arms 71 1provided with slotted ends, to which are pivotally secured the levers "52' These levers pass through slots in the car-sill D and have theiropposite ends pivotally secured to lugs or projections 4. i located onthe frame-plates G, and, together with the bar I, serve to align theplates 0, yet permit the same to move in an arc with the lug c as thecenter. The forward portion of the bar I as it abuts against thestraight edge e of the bear-ing 0 will further serve to align said bar,and consequently the frame plate. Should there be an uneven surface inthe frame-plates or a tendency of the same to cant 1 as the same arebrought together, I provide ibuffers K, located 011 depending portionsof the frame-plates O, as best shown in Fig. 6. f These buffers compriseabuffing plate or bar f plates. ;yielding surface to the lower portionof the i k ,having a stem 7a, which passes through an aperture in thecasin g F, arranged on the rear of the frame-plates, the said stemhaving a spiral spring surrounding the same and tending to normallypress the buffer-plate in advance of the front surface of the frame Thebuffers also serve to provide a :fra1ne-plates when the same are broughttogether.

When the frame-plates are rigidly held to- :top as the cars pass aroundacurve, or if not it sufficiently rigid to prevent the rubbln g of theopposed faces these soon become considerably worn or roughened,therebymatenally diminishing the efficiency of thejoint.

1 prevent this wearing or straining of the parts j. of the frame andhood, I provide an antifrlctional roller or rollers L, arranged torotate in-a recess in the upper portion. of the frameplate, theontersurface of the roller extending just sufiiciently to separate theupper surfaces of two opposed plates, but not to permit the entrance: offoreign matter between the same. This construction permits. the cars toheel over, and yet allows the cars. to be rigidly bound together.

M is. a. hand-wheel secured to a vertical rod;

ing a bevel-gear m. at the lower end thereof, which meshes with a. gear112. the latter being secured to a rod m which is. jonrnaled in anysuitable construction or arranged in any desired position, butordinarily I prefer to use the construction. shown.

The operation of the, parts willibe readily understood from theforegoingdescription. It will be seen, should theparts be intheposition. shown in Fig. 3,,in which the cars are coupled together, that.by rotating the handwheels M the gears II will be rotated through theshafts m, gears m, gears m rods m and bevel-gears m The rotation of eachgearH in one direction will cause the sleeve G, with which it isengaged, to advance by the action of the spline g in the keyway g ofsaid sleeve. The advancing of the sleeve G tends to compress the springsJ and J between the bar I and said sleeve, thereby advancing the rod E,and consequently the frame-plate O, the bar I and the rods 1' 1' servingto properly align the frame-plates, though this is materially aided bythe square abutting surface 6 of the block and bar I when the same arebrought together. The reverse movement of the bevelgear H causes thesleeve G to move backward, thereby releasing the compression of thesprings, when the frame-plates may slide or be forced back to theirformer position. This construction permits the frictional contactbetween the frame-plates to be varied and serves to rigidly hold the twocars together, yet allowing the proper movement of the same at alltimes.

I do not desire to confine myself to the eX- act construction shown, asI might vary this somewhat without departing from the spirit of myinvention.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, anddesire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is-

1. In a vestibule railway car, the combination with a frame -plate, of acentrally arranged slidable rod forming the center of oscillation ofsaid frame-plate, an aligning or equalizing bar pivotally connected tothe rod and also connected to the frame-plate on opposite sides of saidrod, an exteriorly threaded sleeve forming a bearing for one end of therod; said sleeve being provided with a keyway, a spring interposedbetween the sleeve and the equalizing bar, a spline engaging the key-wayto prevent the rotation of said sleeve,

an internally threaded gear which engages the sleeve, together withmeans for rotating the gear, substantially as described.

2. In a vestibule railway car, the combination with a frame-plate, of acentrally arranged slidable rod pivotally connected to said frame-plateand forming the center of oscillation thereof, an equalizing or aligningbar pivotally connected to the rod, levers connected to the frame-plateand to the equalizing bar on opposite sides of said rod; said sleevebeing provided with a key-way, a spring interposed between the sleeveand the equalizing bar, a spline engaging the key-way to prevent therotation of said sleeve, an internally threaded gear wheel engaging thesleeve, together with means for rotating the gear, substantially asdescribed.

3. The combination with a movable frameplate, of a bar pivotallyconnected to the frame-plate by a pair of levers, a sleeve having anexternally threaded surface and provided with a key-way, a splineengaging the key way, a spring arranged between the sleeve and the bar,an internally threaded gear wheel engaging the sleeve, together withmeans for rotating the gear, substantially as described.

4. In a railway car, a frame plate having an anti-friction roller orrollers at the upper portion of the front or abutting surface thereof,substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

5. In a railway car, a frame-plate having a buffer or buffers arrangedat the lower portion of the front or abutting surface thereof,substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

' FRANK A. FOX.

Witnesses:

CLIFFORD C. ROBERTS, ROBERT LENNoX.

